Tag: Student Hotel

4 January 2018 – El Mundo

The volume of real estate investment in student halls soared in 2017 to reach €560 million by year-end, compared to €50 million in 2016, according to data from the real estate consultancy JLL.

That figure of almost €600 million was driven primarily by the sale of two large portfolios, known as Erasmus and Rio. The first related to the sale of Grupo Resa, the largest operator of student halls in Spain, whilst Project Rio corresponded to the sale of a portfolio of student halls that the fund Oaktree owned in Spain, which was acquired by funds managed by GSA in an operation advised by JLL.

Similarly, the investment volume recorded in 2017 also included other operations involving individual assets, such as the recent purchase by the European fund “Catella European Student Housing Fund” of the La Campana student hall, located in the centre of Pamplona (Navarra), as well as the acquisition in March by The Student Hotel of the former print house on Cuesta de San Vicente 28, in Madrid, to convert it into a hall of residence.

In terms of whether this trend will continue, according to Nick Wride, Director of Alternative Assets at JLL, “in 2018, we will not see the sale of large portfolios like in 2017, but we expect the market to continue to be very active, especially with respect to the purchase of land for the development of new student halls and also rehabilitation and change of use projects”.

“Moreover” – he adds – “although interest will continue in Madrid and Barcelona as the large cities, there will also be an increase in investment towards the main university cities outside of those two locations, above all in Valencia, Granada, Salamanca and Bilbao”.

Original story: El Mundo

Translation: Carmel Drake